Women abuse survivors challenge Rome, O'Malley

[kweerwolf]

Unconvinced the Vatican's new criteria banning gay seminarians address root causes of clerical abuse, women who were abused by priests demonstrated on Thurs., Dec. 1, outside chancery offices of the Boston Archdiocese.

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"Perhaps the public ¦ would like to continue to think that priests abused altar boys and somehow their daughters are safe," said Ann Hagan Webb, New England coordinator for Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. "We are here to dispel that myth," she added. "We were not safe. And homosexual orientation in our abusers had nothing to do with it."

Hagan Webb, a psychologist, who alleges her abuse by a monsignor from kindergarten through the seventh grade, took issue specifically with church officials and reports that suggest 80 percent to 90 percent of sex abuse victims were boys.

"How does that account for the fact that half of the 6,000 plus members of SNAP are female?" she asked, adding, "This culture has a long history of blaming female victims whatever their age for the sexual abuse perpetrated on them. Is it any wonder that we are less apt to come forward publicly, or face legal actions that might put us on the witness stand defending our virtue?"

http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Ne&article_code=946&PHPSESSID=d4e567aaea1a0cb25008b11cc3025aa4

[MountainLaurel]

1. I'm glad they're being more vocal

If we were dealing with reasonable people, that would shut down the talk of "well, if we get rid of gay priests it'll get rid of the child rape problem."

[Warpy]

2. Rome has a perverted view of women

and regards all women as temptresses, creatures who sully the otherwise pure male by being occasions of sin. In otherwise, the male is never held responsible for his actions, it's all the woman's fault for speaking, showing her hair, having breasts, etc. ad nauseum.

And they wonder why I left.